A leading North West law firm is urging drivers to be prepared for the new road traffic accident (RTA) claims process, which comes into effect on Friday 30th April 2010.
Mace & Jones, which has offices in Liverpool, Manchester and Knutsford, has launched a new tool to help drivers who have been in an RTA to fill out the extensive new online claim form.
The firm says the reformed process will speed up the time it makes to make a claim; however the forms require a Claimant to provide much more information than that which goes into a letter of claim under the current system.
The new process will have to be completed online via a secure Portal, and will be in force for any injuries in an RTA where the compensation is likely to be between £1,000 and £10,000.
Jeremy Bradshaw, Head of Personal Injury at Mace & Jones, said: “Currently the defendant insurer has 21 days to acknowledge a letter of claim sent by a solicitor and a further three months to carry out decisions and provide a decision on liability.
“Under the new process, a claim will be made by submitting a Claims Notification Form online, straight to the insurer concerned. The insurer will then have just 15 days to investigate and provide its view on liability. The form however requires a Claimant to provide much more information, and if the Claimant doesn’t have this information there could be a substantial delay in the process.”
Mr Bradshaw added that many drivers will not know all the information they need to get, or may be so shaken that they are unable to think properly after an RTA.
“To combat this Mace & Jones is offering a handy-size ‘prompt sheet’ that drivers can keep in their car and refer to should they be involved in a traffic accident,” he said. “The ‘iprompt’ gives information on the details a driver needs to obtain in the aftermath of an accident to ensure their claim is processed quickly and easily.”
Copies of the free iprompt are available from Samantha Kinnear at Mace & Jones either by emailing samantha.kinnear@maceandjones.co.uk or by calling 0151 236 8989.
For further information on personal injury services contact: Jeremy.bradshaw@maceandjones.co.uk or any member of the Mace & Jones Personal Injury team in Manchester: 0161 214 0500; Liverpool: 0151 236 8989 or Knutsford: 01565 634234.
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